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The work would also allow them to build digital skills they could take with them when they returned home, REFUNITE says.

"This would give them the ability to rebuild a life ... and the dignity of no longer having to rely solely on charity," Mikkelsen told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

AI is the development of computer systems which can perform tasks that normally require human intelligence.

It is being used in a vast array of products from driverless cars to agricultural robots that can identify and eradicate weeds and computers able to identify cancers.

In order to "teach" machines to mimic human intelligence, people must repeatedly label images and other data until the algorithm can detect patterns without human intervention.

REFUNITE, based in California, is trialing the app in Uganda where it has launched a pilot project involving 5,000 refugees – mainly form South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo. It hopes to scale up to 25,000 refugees within two years.

Mikkelsen said the initiative was a win-win as it would also benefit companies by slashing costs.

Another tech company, DeepBrain Chain, has committed to paying 200 refugees for a test period of six months, he said.